Casserole comfort: Warming up with pork neck and potatoes
Casseroles are one of the best answers to the question of what to have for dinner today. They are simple to prepare and perfectly warm you up after coming home. My tried-and-tested recipe is a delicious casserole with potatoes and ground pork neck. Simply finger-licking good.
After this casserole, even the loudest stomach growls will be quickly silenced. Under the cheesy layer, a lot is happening - there's ground pork neck, filling potatoes, tender mushrooms, and creamy béchamel sauce. It's the perfect solution for dinner on a day when the temperature outside is dropping. A serving of homemade casserole will quickly warm the body and restore the energy lost to the cold.
Pork neck casserole
Potato casserole with ground pork neck and mushrooms is a dish that works every time. Just toss the prepared ingredients into an ovenproof dish and be patient while baking. Taken out of the oven, the hot and steaming casserole makes your mouth water right away.
In this recipe, I use ground pork neck. It's quite fatty and wonderfully adds juiciness to the casserole. You can grind the pork neck yourself, ask for it at the butcher's, or replace it with another ground meat, such as shoulder.
Ingredients:
- 1 kilogram of potatoes,
- 750 grams of mushrooms,
- half a teaspoon of salt for mushrooms,
- 750 grams of ground pork neck,
- half a teaspoon of salt for pork neck,
- 2 tablespoons of oil,
- 1 heaping teaspoon of sweet paprika,
- half a teaspoon of hot paprika,
- 1 flat teaspoon of oregano,
- 1 flat teaspoon of dried rosemary,
- 2 cloves of garlic.
Béchamel sauce:
- 700 millilitres of milk,
- 60 grams of butter,
- 30 grams of plain flour,
- 140 grams of grated parmesan,
- half a teaspoon of salt,
- a pinch of nutmeg.
Instructions:
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the ground pork neck.
- Season with salt, hot and sweet paprika, oregano, and paprika, and sauté for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the cooked meat to an ovenproof dish.
- Peel the potatoes, cut them into medium-sized cubes, and boil in salted water until they start to soften but are not overcooked.
- Slice the mushrooms, toss them into the frying pan, and season with salt. Sauté until all the water evaporates.
- Transfer the mushrooms to the meat.
- In the ovenproof dish, combine the mushrooms, add potatoes, two-thirds of the grated parmesan, and pressed garlic, and mix everything.
- Heat the milk until it's slightly warm.
- Melt butter in a frying pan. Add flour and salt and sauté until the mixture starts to bubble.
- Pour in the warm milk, stirring the sauce. Season with nutmeg and cook until the sauce starts to thicken. Remember to stir to prevent burning.
- Pour the hot sauce over the ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan and let sit for a few minutes to allow the sauce to seep into the casserole.
- Place in an oven preheated to 180 degrees Celsius in a top-bottom setting.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Serve the ready casserole warm. Enjoy your meal!
